25. There shall be an attorney general elected by the qualified electors of the state; and a competent number of district attorneys shall be elect ed by the qualified voters of their respective districts, whose compensa tion and term of service shall be prescribed by law.

26. The legislature shall provide by law for determining contested elections of judges of the high court of errors and appeals, of the circuit and probate courts, and other officers.

27. The judges of the several courts of this state, for wilful neglect of duty or other reasonable cause, shall be removed by the governor on the address of two-thirds of both houses of the legislature; the address to be by joint vote of both houses. The cause or causes for which such removal shall be required, shall be stated at length in such address, and on the journals of each house. The judge so intended to be removed, shall be notified and admitted to a hearing in his own defence before any vote for such address shall pass; the vote on such address shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered on the journals of each house.

28. Judges of probate, clerks, sheriffs, and other county officers, for wilful neglect of duty, or misdemeanor in office, shall be liable to presentment or indictment by a grand jury, and trial by a petit jury, and upon conviction shall be removed from office.

ARTICLE 5.

Executive Department.

§ 1. The chief executive power of this state shall be vested in a governor, who shall hold his office for two years from the time of his installation.

2. The governor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state. The returns of every election for governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the secretary of state, who shall deliver them to the speaker of the house of representatives, at the next ensuing session of the legislature, during the first week of which session the speaker shall open and publish them in the presence of both houses of the legislature. The person having the highest number of votes shall be governor; but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, then one of them shall be chosen governor by the joint ballot of both houses of the legislature. Contested elections for governor shall be determined by both houses of the legislature, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

3. The governor shall be at least thirty years of age, shall have been a citizen of the United States for twenty years, shall have resided in this state at least five years next preceding the day of his election, and shall not be capable of holding the office more than four years in any term of six years.

4. He shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which he shall be elected.

5. He shall be commander in chief of the army and navy in this state, and of the militia, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.

6. He may require information in writing, from the officers in the executive department, on any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

7. He may, in cases of emergency, convene the legislature at the seat of government, or at a different place, if that shall have become, since their last adjournment, dangerous from an enemy or from disease; and in case of disagreement between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not beyond the day of the next stated meeting of the legislature.

8. He shall from time to time give to the legislature information of the state of the government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem necessary and expedient.

9. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

10. In all criminal and penal cases, except in those of treason and impeachment, he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, and remit fines; and in cases of forfeiture to stay the collection until the end of the next session of the legislature, and to remit forfeitures by and with the advice and consent of the senate. In cases of treason he shall have power to grant reprieves by and with the advice and consent of the senate, but may respite the sentence until the end of the next session of the legislature.

11. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the state of Mississippi; be scaled with the great seal, and signed by the governor, and be attested by the secretary of state.

12. There shall be a seal of this state, which shall be kept by the governor, and used by him officially, and shall be called the great seal of the state of Mississippi.

13. All vacancies not provided for in this constitution shall be filled in such manner as the legislature may prescribe.

14. The secretary of state shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state, and shall continue in office during the term of two years. He shali keep a fair register of all the official acts and proceedings of the governor, and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto, before the legislature, and shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by law.

15. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the legislature shall be presented to the governor; if he approve, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it with his objections to the house in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections at large upon their journals, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration twothirds of the house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in such case the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within six days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall become a law.

16. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of both houses may be necessary, except resolutions for the purpose of obtaining the joint action of both houses, and on questions of adjournment, shall be presented to the governor, and before it shall take effect be approved

by him, or being disapproved, shall be repassed by both houses according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

17. Whenever the office of governor shall become vacant by death, resignation, removal from office, or otherwise, the president of the senate shall exercise the office of governor until another governor shall be duly qualified; and in case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or other disqualification of the president of the senate so exercising the office of governor, the speaker of the house of representatives shall exercise the office, until the president of the senate shall have been chosen ; and when the office of governor, president of the senate, and speaker of the house shall become vacant, in the recess of the senate, the person acting as secretary of state for the time being, shall by proclamation convene the senate, that a president may be chosen to exercise the office of governor.

18. When either the president or speaker of the house of representatives shall so exercise said office, he shall receive the compensation of governor only, and his duties as president or speaker shall be suspended, and the senate or house of representatives, as the case may be, shall fill the vacancy until his duties as governor shall cease.

19. A sheriff, and one or more coroners, a treasurer, surveyor, and ranger shall be elected in each county by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold their offices for two years, unless sooner removed; except that the coroner shall hold his office until his successor be duly qualified.

20. A state treasurer and auditor of public accounts shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state, who shall hold their offices for the term of two years, unless sooner removed.

Militia.

§ 1. The legislature shall provide by law for organizing and disciplining the militia of this state, in such manner as they shall deem expedient, not incompatible with the constitution and laws of the United States, in relation thereto.

2. Commissioned officers of the militia (staff officers and the officers of volunteer companies excepted) shall be elected by the persons liable to perform military duty, and the qualified electors within their respective commands, and shall be commissioned by the governor.

3. The governor shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the state, to suppress insurrection, and repel invasion.

ARTICLE 6.
Impeachments.

§ 1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeaching.

2. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate. When sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be on oath or affirmation. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

3. The governor, and all civil officers, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honour, trust, or profit under the state: but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law, as in other cases.

ARTICLE 7.

General Provisions.

§ 1. Members of the legislature, and all officers, executive and judi cial, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take the following oath or affirmation, to wit: "I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Mississippi, so long as I continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully discharge to the best of my abilities the duties of the office of- according to law. So help me God."

2. The legislature shall pass such laws to prevent the evil practice of duelling as they may deem necessary, and may require all officers, before they enter on the duties of their respective offices, to take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have not been engaged in a duel, by sending or accepting a challenge to fight a duel, or by fighting a duel since the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirtythree, nor will I be so engaged during my continuance in office. help me God."

So

3. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his own confession in open court.

4. Every person shall be disqualified from holding an office or place of honour or profit under the authority of this state, who shall be convicted of having given or offered any bribe to procure his election. Laws shall be made to exclude from office and from suffrage those who shall thereafter be convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors. The privilege of free suffrage shall be supported by laws regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence therein, from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper conduct.

5. No person who denies the being of a God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.

6. No law of a general nature, unless otherwise provided for, shall be enforced until sixty days after the passage thereof.

7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of an appropriation made by law, nor shall any appropriation of money for the support of an army be made for a longer term than one year.

8. No money from the treasurer shall be appropriated to objects of internal improvement, unless a bill for that purpose be approved by two-thirds of both branches of the legislature; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of public moneys shall be published annually.

9. No law shall ever be passed to raise a loan of money upon the credit of the state, or to pledge the faith of the state or the payment or redemption of any loan or debt, unless such law be proposed in the senate or house of representatives, and be agreed to by a majority of the members of each house, and entered on their journals with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and be referred to the next succeeding legislature, and

published for three months previous to the next regular election, in three newspapers of the state; and unless a majority of each branch of the legislature, so elected, after such publication, shall agree to, and pass such law; and in such case the yeas and nays shall be taken, and entered on the journals of each house: Provided, that nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent the legislature from negotiating a further loan of one and a half million of dollars, and vesting the same in stock reserved to the state by the charter of the Planters' Bank of the state of Mississippi.

10. The legislature shall direct, by law, in what manner and in what courts, suits may be brought against the state.

11. Absence on business of this state, or of the United States, or on a visit, or necessary private business, shall not cause a forfeiture of citizenship or residence once obtained.

12. It shall be the duty of the legislature to regulate, by law, the cases in which deductions shall be made from salaries of public officers for neglect of duty in their official capacity, and the amount of such deduction.

13. No member of congress, nor any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, (the office of post-master excepted,) or any other state, of the union, or under any foreign power, shall hold or exercise any office of trust or profit under this state.

14. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of education, shall for ever be encouraged in this

state.

15. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be granted, but in cases provided for by law, by suit in chancery.

16. Returns of all elections by the people shall be made to the secretary of state in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

17. No new county shall be established by the legislature, which shall reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from which it may be taken, to less contents than five hundred and seventy-six square miles; nor shall any new county be laid off of less contents.

18. The legislature shall have power to admit to all the rights and privileges of free white citizens of this state, all such persons of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians, as shall choose to remain in this state, upon such terms as the legislature may from time to time deem proper.

Slaves.

§ 1. The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners, unless where the slave shall have rendered to the state some distinguished service; in which case the owner shall be paid a full equivalent for the slave so emancipated. They shall have no power to prevent emigrants to this state from bringing with them such persons as are deemed slaves by the laws of any one of the United States, so long as any person of the same age or description shall be continued in slavery by the laws of this state: Provided, that such person or slave be the bona fide property of such emigrants; and provided, also, that laws may be passed to prohibit the introduction into this state of slaves who may have committed high